No Matter What
by KurokoAddict
Summary: 5 years after the outbreak of a dangerous pandemic, Risa and her brother Eren begin an unexpected journey as they join up with another group of survivors. Their leader, Levi, is nothing but cold to her, but she's determined to stay with him until the end of his journey. (Zombie AU)
1. The Outbreak

**A/N: Hello and thank you for checking out my story! I actually started writing this 2 years ago, and I finally worked up the courage to post it online. So far, I only have 6 chapters written, but I'm working on revising them as well as writing new chapters. I wanted to make note of a few things really quickly.**

 **1) This is a zombie apocalypse AU that takes place in America. (The setting will be described in later chapters)**

 **2) The relationship between Levi and my OC, Risa, will develop at a somewhat slow rate. (Be patient!)**

 **3) As much as I love writing this story, I am not usually fast at writing, but now that I have actually posted it on this website, I think that I'll have more motivation to write and I'll be able to update as fast as I'd like to. No matter what happens, I won't abandon this story.**

 **Warnings for this story: Will contain violence/blood (nothing too explicit), mild language**

 **Okay, I'm done rambling now. I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

 **BEGINNING OF PART ONE**

 _ **Chapter 1**_

 _ **"The Outbreak"**_

* * *

It was just a normal day when it all happened.

Risa Jaeger woke up at six in the morning, just like she did every day. She got ready and went to school with her brother Eren. Like every other day in her life, she expected to return home with her brother Eren safely to do her homework while she waited for her father to return home from his job at the factory in the evening.

But that day, all of the students in school were evacuated from the building and sent home without warning. Risa clung onto Eren's arm as they walked home together, fearing what was going on. She trembled as she watched people on the streets running in terror as cars zoomed passed.

"Eren, what the hell is happening?" she asked him, shaking in her skin.

Eren observed what was happening around the two of them gravely. "I'm not sure, but we should hurry home." He gripped her hand tightly and took off running in the direction of their house.

On their way home, both of them had to dodge people with wild eyes who approached them numerous times.

Luckily, they made it back home unharmed. As soon as they walked through the door, a cry was heard from upstairs.

Eren and Risa exchanged worried looks before running up the stairs. They found their mother in her room, balled up on the floor as she continuously sobbed. She didn't even notice her children walk in.

"Mom, what happened!?" Risa panicked and rushed over to her, kneeling down next to her. Eren followed Risa, putting his hand on her shoulder.

She looked up at them with puffy eyes, showing that she had been crying for a while, but Risa wasn't sure for exactly how long.

Eren frowned. "Mom, tell us what's happening." He smiled at her in attempt to get her to calm down. But that proved to not work when she started crying again.

Eren started feeling frustrated since no one was explaining to him what was going on. All he wanted was some answers, but he wasn't finding any with his mother laying on the floor looking like a mess.

"Mom, tell us what's going on!" he cried, balling his hands into fists.

"Eren, let her calm down first," Risa whispered to him, putting her hand on his arm. "Just stay calm, okay?"

"Risa, how are you not freaking out right now?" he asked her, bewildered.

The truth was, she was feeling like she was about to lose it. But somehow she was able to stay calm even though she felt like crying from the confusion and frustration that was threatening to take over.

It took an hour for their mom to stop breaking down. She had cleaned herself up before she sat Eren and Risa down at the table to tell them about the madness that was going on in the outside world.

"I don't know how to tell you this," she said quietly, looking down at her hands resting in her lap.

Neither of them said anything. They just sat there, waiting patiently for her to go on.

"There was a gas leak at the factory," she explained slowly. She had to pause for a moment, biting her lip so she wouldn't cry. "And then there was an explosion."

Risa's eyes widened. Then, she looked over at Eren, who had the same expression that she did.

"I'm sorry. Your father...he…"

She couldn't finish the sentence. They didn't need her to because both of them knew how the story ended.

Risa could feel her heart shattering at that moment. Her body was enveloped by an emotional pain, but she couldn't react to the heartbreaking news. So she sat there, staring blankly into the distance as her mother broke down right in front of them.

It killed her knowing that couldn't do anything for her. She wasn't able to take away the pain she was suffering from. She didn't know how to help her own mother.

Losing her father was something she never planned on dealing with as a sixteen year old. Nothing could have prepared her for it.

* * *

A few hours later, Risa was lying in her bed, not able to sleep. All she could do was stare up at the ceiling with endless thoughts circling around her head. So much had happened that day that she had to try to wrap her brain around.

The gas leak at the factory caused an explosion, which created a virus that was infecting people left and right. That was all she was told. She wasn't sure what kind of virus it was. All she knew was that whatever it was, it was dangerous.

Her mother sat in a chair in the living room with tear stained cheeks, thinking about her loss. A knock on the door snapped her out of her thoughts. She got up, wondering who could be at her doorstep at this time of night. She opened the door to reveal a neighbor standing outside. She cried in horror at the sight she was greeted with.

Risa's eyes shot open when she heard commotion going on downstairs. She exited her room, meeting up with Eren, who had also heard the noise. They both crept down the stairs slowly on alert.

When they reached the living room, their mom locked the door after slamming it shut. She was gripping her shoulder. Risa and Eren noticed that there was blood seeping through her fingers from a wound she was covering up.

Risa gasped in fear. "Mom, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she said, breathing heavily. "We have to-we have to get out of here. Right now."

Risa and Eren watched as she headed to the kitchen, grabbing her car keys. Risa raised her eyebrows when she took out two knives from the drawer.

Again, she weren't sure what was happening, but she and Eren followed her out the back door and around the house.

As they were approaching the front of the house, their neighbor crept out of the shadows, staring at the three of them.

"I need you two to make a run for the car," their mother said in a hushed tone. "On the count of three. One."

Risa gulped, glancing at Eren before taking his hand.

"Two."

"Three."

Their mother charged toward their neighbor as Risa and Eren sprinted to the car. The doors were unlocked, so they were able to make it there safely and quickly.

They looked out the windows to see their mom sink the knife she was holding into the shoulder of their thrashing neighbor. She quickly ripped the knife back out, then ran to the car as fast as she could.

When she got in the car, she locked the doors and fumbled with her keys with her shaking hands.

"Mom, why did you do that?" Risa asked about the neighbor.

"There's something not right with her. It's the virus," she answered, starting to drive.

"Where are we going?" Eren asked, looking out the window to see chaos outside.

There were multiple car wrecks, electricity lines had fallen down, and fires were erupting. To top it off, people were still running around like maniacs.

Eren's question was answered with silence.

They had been driving for about half an hour before they ran into traffic. The line was backed up for miles, probably. Their mom got out of the car in a hurry. Risa and Eren looked at each other before figuring that she wanted them to do the same. So, they got out of the car and ran behind her.

Two days later, they were all sitting in an abandoned building, locked in a small room. The tension was high as neither of them were sure what to do after they left this place.

It wasn't until late that evening when Risa noticed her mom acting strange. Her back was facing Risa, and she was able to notice her body twitching. She could hear her grunting, like she was in pain.

"Mom?"

She turned around rapidly and darted to Eren, grabbing him. He struggled as he tried to push her away from him, but she was too strong for him.

"Mom!" Eren yelled, desperately trying to pry her away as she tried biting into him. "Do something, Risa! Get the knife…!" he choked out, noticing his sister standing there in shock.

Risa forced herself to rush behind them to take the knife sitting on the table in the corner of the room. It was almost as if someone else was controlling her. She stared at the knife in her hand, unsure of what she was about to do.

She furrowed her eyebrows together as she snuck up behind her mom, raising the knife in the air.

'I can't do it,' she thought to herself. Could she really kill her own mom?

But she was attacking Eren. If she didn't do something, what would happen to Eren? It was obvious that her mom was turning into something dangerous.

Risa could either lose her mom. Or lose both of them.

She chose the former.

Bracing herself, she raised the knife in the air before plunging it into her mother's back. She winced as she heard her crying out in pain.

Eren pushed her off of him once she had stopped trying to eat him and she fell onto the floor with a thud.

* * *

5 Years Later

The hot summer sun beat down on Risa's skin as she trudged through the fields of dead grass, trailing behind Eren slowly.

"Risa, hurry up," Eren commanded, looking over his shoulder to watch her.

Risa rolled her eyes. "Not like we have anywhere special to be," she muttered, motioning towards the emptiness around them.

Eren gave her a look before turning back around. "I promise as soon as we get to a neighborhood, we'll rest for the night."

"My feet are killing me," Risa complained. "Will you carry me?"

"No."

That was the answer she figured she would get. She kept her complaints to herself and walked next to Eren in silence for the rest of their journey to find shelter.

They finally came across a neighborhood of abandoned houses after the sun had set. She breathed a sigh of relief, finally being able to rest.

When the two of them entered the house, Eren said to Risa, "We should probably look around first." When she nodded in agreement, he offered to check upstairs, leaving her alone to roam the downstairs part of the house.

When she turned a corner, someone grabbed her from inside the room she passed, thrusting her against the wall. Not expecting the attack, she closed her eyes upon the impact.

When she felt the cold metal of a knife being pressed into her neck, she slowly opened her eyes to see a man with his face a few inches away from hers, with his silver eyes staring into hers.

"Who are you and what do you want?" his rough voice demanded from her. His hand was still wrapped around her shoulder, allowing himself to keep her pinned to the wall.

She scowled at him, trying to push him away from her, only to have him push her back harder.

"Answer me," he growled at Risa angrily.

"What the hell!?" Her eyes widened when she heard Eren yell from upstairs. A few loud bangs followed after. She couldn't help but wonder what kind of situation the two of them had exactly got themselves in.

She stayed silent until Eren was pushed into the room. A blonde man came in after him, twisting his arm behind his back, causing Eren winced in pain.

"Look, Brother! We caught him!" a perky girl cheered as she entered the room behind the two men.

"Eren!" Risa called out from him. She tried to go to him, but she was still being held with the knife against her throat.

Eren looked at Risa. His eyes widened once he noticed the position she was in. "Let go of her!" he yelled, trying to break free of the captor's grasp.

The man kicked Eren's legs, knocking him to the ground. Risa felt herself bubble up with anger. She tried to get away once again, but his grip on her kept her in place.

"Not until you answer some questions," her aggressor said.

She couldn't admit it out loud, but she was definitely scared of him. And she certainly couldn't allow herself to show how much she feared him. The only thing she could do was glare at him to put up a brave front.

"Risa, was it?" he asked. She nodded. "Who are you and why are you here?" he asked her again. It was more demanding this time around.

"We just wanted to stay here for the night," she answered him honestly, but never letting her guard down.

He stared at her like he didn't believe what she was telling him.

"Why else would we be here?" Eren asked tiredly.

The other girl answered his question. "We just need to make sure that you aren't here to, you know...kill us."

It scared Risa that she said that with a smile.

Risa scoffed, earning a glare from the man staring at her. "No. We honestly thought these houses were abandoned."

The man continued to stare at Risa, but with a blank expression instead of his cold one he greeted her with. She started to tremble as she stared into his piercing eyes.

"Levi, I think she's telling the truth…" the girl told him, looking worried. She looked as if she was about to walk towards Risa, but she remained in place. "Right, Farlan?"

The blonde man, dubbed as Farlan, nodded. "That's enough." Then, he slowly let go of Eren.

Levi lowered the his hand that was holding the knife to his side and let go of Risa's shoulder. He backed up a few steps so she had room to walk away from him.

Risa was back at Eren's side when the girl spoke up.

"Sorry, we must've made a bad impression on you," she said with a frown. "We should introduce ourselves properly. My name is Isabel. This is—"

"Farlan," the blonde cut in.

Isabel turned her head towards Levi, waiting for him to introduce himself. He just glared at Eren and Risa without saying anything.

"That's—" Isabel started to say before she was interrupted.

"Levi. I know," Risa interjected.

"You better not forget it," Levi hissed, taking a cloth out from his pocket. He started cleaning his knife with it, not that it really needed the care in the first place.

Isabel smiled nervously as she placed her hand on the back of her neck. "Heh, sorry about him. I promise he's a lot nicer once you get to know him!"

Levi sent another cold glare towards Isabel, but it didn't affect her at all.

But Risa had no wish to get to know him at all. He had completely jumped to conclusions upon meeting her and attacked her. The least the guy could do was apologize, but that obviously wasn't going to happen. And she could tell that he definitely didn't want to get to know her.

"Come on, Risa, we'll just go to the next house," Eren told her, grabbing her arm to lead Risa out of the house. Neither of them wanted to get involved those three, but Risa had to admit that Isabel wasn't half bad.

Risa stopped dead in her tracks once they walked out the door, noticing a pack of Infected stalking around.

"Looks like we have company," said Eren.

Eren looked at Risa with a smirk on his face. She gave him a firm nod, smirking back at him, before they pulled out their guns.


	2. The Choice

_**Chapter 2**_

 _ **"The Choice"**_

* * *

Farlan and Isabel's heads snapped up once they heard the sounds of guns going off. Levi stayed still for a moment before going to retrieve his own weapons.

"What's going on out there?" Isabel asked, rushing over to the window to take a peek outside.

"It's those damn zombies," Farlan said, clicking his tongue. He went to follow Levi. "At least we finally get some action, right Levi?" He nudged an annoyed Levi with his elbow.

"Tch. Just get your weapons, will you?" he huffed under his breath. After making sure he had everything ready, he made his way to the front of the house.

* * *

Risa and Eren fought off the creatures one by one, firing bullets at their heads. Risa preferred to avoid close combat if it was possible, so she and Eren stayed on the porch so they could fight from a distance.

But the sound of gunshots lured the zombies toward them. It was a complete mystery as to where they were coming from. They eventually started coming from different directions. If any more came, they wouldn't be able to avoid fighting them off close up.

Risa's gun unexpectedly ran out of bullets, so she had to reach into her bag quickly to reload. After searching her bag, she couldn't find any more ammo.

"Dammit," she muttered to herself.

Eren looked over at her, widening his eyes from noticing her dilemma. He continued to fire his gun as he talked to her. "It's okay. I have some more in my bag!"

As she was searching around in Eren's backpack for more bullets, she heard a gun firing behind her. She turned to see Levi pointing a revolver, with Farlan and Isabel behind him.

"Don't worry guys! We're here to save the day!" Isabel said enthusiastically.

She grumbled as she reloaded her gun with the bullets Eren gave her. "We have everything under control," she stated matter-of-factly.

A small laugh escaped Levi's lips. He wasn't buying her claim. "Not from where I'm standing," he said smugly, eyeing her as she fumbled with her gun.

Risa narrowed her eyes at him before turning her head to face the infected again. This time, she was ready. Aiming her gun again, she was determined to prove to Levi that she actually knew what she was doing.

"Isabel, shall we?" Farlan asked, looking at Isabel and then nodded his head toward the horde.

Isabel grinned and shouted, "Let's go!" She sprinted off into the field with Farlan behind her so they could get closer to the zombies.

Risa watched as they attacked the zombies with their knives. She didn't even bother to fire her gun at the others. As long as they were there fighting, there really was no point for her to deal with the undead at this point, so she stepped back to let them take over. She accepted the fact that they had everything under control.

She observed Isabel as she gracefully fought off the zombies one by one, careful to not let them touch her. Farlan was just as graceful as she was. It amazed her how much they looked like professional killers.

Levi continued firing bullets at the enemies, looking calm and collected the whole time, but he had a look of determination on his face. Risa would have admired his handsomeness in that moment if she weren't holding a grudge against him for violating her. Every time she thought about it, her hatred for him grew. She felt frustration bubbling up inside of her as she thought about how good he was at slaying the infected.

"Risa, snap out of it!" Eren's voice interrupted her thoughts. "There's just a few more left."

She gave him a nod. "Right."

Before long, all the zombies had been taken out. Having Levi there along with Isabel and Farlan helped Risa out a lot more than she would have liked to admit. The five of them went back into the house to relax.

"Damn, where did they all come from?" Farlan asked, leaning against the wall. He was breathing heavily with his eyes closed, feeling worn out.

"I don't know, but there's probably more coming," Levi said, putting his collection of weapons in a bag. "We should get out of here quickly."

Isabel and Farlan followed suit in collecting their weapons, which really only consisted of a couple small guns and a few knives. Levi had the bigger selection, which wasn't very fair in Risa's opinion.

Risa looked over at Eren, wondering what the two of them should do. Sensing her worried expression, he just shrugged his shoulders.

But if they were leaving, wouldn't Risa and Eren be able to have the house for the night? The realization excited her. Now she couldn't wait until they left.

"Hey, Brother, can they come with us?" Isabel pleaded, smiling brightly.

Risa mentally face palmed herself.

' _And I really wanted to rest,'_ Risa thought to herself. But it looked like she wouldn't be able to if she and Eren went with them.

"No."

' _Oh, thank God,'_ Risa thought, feeling relieved from Levi's answer. Besides, she didn't really want to go anywhere with them considering the way she was treated earlier.

Yes, Risa weren't really good at letting go of things easily. She was exceptionally great at holding grudges. That's just how stubborn she was.

Isabel frowned, then suddenly regained her confidence after a moment. "Oh, come on! Please! I could really use a friend who's a girl and Risa's a girl!"

"No," Levi said again more forcefully.

But Isabel continued begging. "Brother, please! It'd be nice to have a few extra people around to help out and back us up!" If she kept this up, there would be no way that Levi would be able to resist her.

Levi stared at her, resisting the urge to slam her into the wall to get her to shut up. After she went on with her speech, Levi finally let out an exasperated sigh. "If I say yes, will you shut your mouth?"

Isabel nodded happily. "Does that mean it's a yes?"

Levi took one glance at Risa and Eren before turning around. "It's their choice," he replied, walking towards the front door. "I'll be waiting outside. Hurry up and make up your minds."

Then, the front door slammed shut.

Isabel looked back at Risa, grinning from ear to ear. "Well, what do you say? Wanna join us?"

Eren looked over to Risa, waiting for her answer. "What do you want to do? It doesn't really matter to me."

Risa gave Isabel a small smile, not having the heart to decline the offer. She sounded so enthusiastic about having them around, so she didn't really want to ruin that for her.

"Sure, why not…" Risa replied slowly.

"Yahoo!" Isabel jumped up in excitement, raising her fist in the air. "Let's go!"

Risa smiled at Isabel, slightly halfheartedly, feeling overwhelmed by her energetic behavior. It didn't surprise her that Isabel didn't notice her uneasy replies to her.

"We should really go now. We don't want to keep Levi waiting," Farlan told Eren and Risa.

He lead the group out of the house to meet up with Levi. Levi turned to their new members with a wry expression on his face.

"So you did decide to come with us," he said indifferently as he walked through the fields, leaving the rest of them to follow behind him.

"Yes," Eren answered.

"Just don't get in my way," he said curtly.

' _Like I wanted to do that anyway,'_ Risa thought to herself, rolling her eyes. She decided to brush his harsh words away. "So, where exactly are we going?" she asked.

"None of your damn business." Levi brushed her off and continued walking. She immediately frowned at his rude reply.

Well, that wasn't exactly the answer she was hoping for. She inwardly seethed. His stubbornness was finally getting to her. Eren noticed her fists balled up in anger and looked at her with a concerned expression.

"Risa." He wrapped his hand around her fist, hoping he would be able to calm her down. "I'm sure they'll tell us eventually," he whispered. But she wanted to know now. It frustrated her that he wouldn't answer a simple question.

"Brother…" Isabel said quietly with a sorrowful expression. "Why aren't they allowed to know?"

Levi dismissed the question and asked Eren a question of his own instead. "So, where is it that you two are heading, Eren?"

Eren opened his mouth in surprise, not expecting Levi to address him. "Uh, no where in particular. We've just been wandering all over for the past five years," he explained.

Levi nodded as he listened to Eren describe the situation. His only response was a quiet hum.

Risa exchanged a distressed look with Eren, wondering what Levi's problem was. He was making it awfully difficult for them to trust him. They were traveling with his group, after all, so Risa felt like they deserved some answers at least. Due to his hostile behavior around them, she came to the conclusion that Levi felt that they were unworthy of answers for whatever reason.

If he wasn't going to trust them, then how could she ever trust him?

* * *

After night began to fall, the group stopped somewhere in a forest to rest until morning. Risa didn't know what time it was, but it was most likely way past midnight.

Isabel sat down against a tree and let out a yawn. "Boy, am I exhausted!" She stretched her arms above her head, leaning back. "I think I'll just go to sleep right now."

"You guys go to bed. I'll keep watch," Levi told everyone.

Farlan nodded, laying down. "Just wake me up when you get tired."

"How are we supposed to sleep like this?" Risa asked Eren. The siblings were still standing there, looking around like lost puppies.

Yes, Risa and Eren traveled day and night, but they had never camped out in a forest before. They had always found a house to rest in, one that was furnished with comfy beds that hadn't been slept in in years. The thought of sleeping on the hard floor of the woods was so preposterous to her.

Levi sighed and threw a blanket that he had taken out of his bag to Eren. "Here. You can share this."

Eren looked down at the cloth in his hands. "Thank you…"

Risa walked with him over to a nearby area to set up their sleeping place. She laid down under the blanket next to Eren, shifting around multiple times. The ground was not comfortable at all.

"Are you done yet?" Eren asked, feeling annoyed, after she had finally stopped moving.

"Sorry," she said quietly. Then she rolled over to face him. "Hey, are you okay with this?"

"With what?" he asked her, closing his eyes.

"You know, with joining them?" she whispered.

"Well I'm okay with it. I just thought that you wouldn't be, so it surprised me when you agreed to this," he answered quietly, opening his eyes so he could look at her.

Risa thought for a moment, feeling melancholy. "You're right about that. Levi's already being a pain in the ass," she said with a bitter laugh.

Eren laughed at her response. "He's just not very trusting. I can understand that. We're complete strangers, so he's on his guard."

"But why does he feel the need to treat us so rudely just because he can't trust us?" she exclaimed.

"He gave us this blanket. I think that's generous," Eren said. He closed his eyes again, ready to fall asleep.

Risa let out a scoff. Eren was totally missing her point. "Eren! Can't you be serious about this?"

"Just go to sleep. I'm tired," he said to her, rolling over onto his other side so his back was facing her. "Good night, Risa."

"Fine," she grumbled, rolling onto her back. ' _Just don't blame me when Levi stabs you in your sleep,'_ she snickered to herself.

She stared up at the night sky through the trees, thinking about what the future would hold for them now that they were starting a new and unknown adventure.

Anything was possible.

* * *

 **A/N: I wanted to get this chapter up right away! I'm so excited for where this story is heading.**

 **Thank you so much for reading. :)**


	3. Distance

_**Chapter 3**_

 ** _"Distance"_**

* * *

It couldn't have been more than two hours since Eren had fallen asleep, but Risa was still awake. It was hard for her to fall asleep when she was in such an unfamiliar situation. After struggling to fall asleep, she decided to get up and walk around to clear her mind.

But then she came across Levi, who was sitting in front of a fire. There appeared to be dark circles under his eyes. He looked extremely tired, but it didn't look like he was nodding off at all. Risa didn't say anything to him to him at first. All she did was stand there, staring at him.

"If you have something to say, then say it," he finally said, not looking up at her. Looks like he finally noticed her.

Risa took a deep breath before answering him, unsure of what kind of cruel things he would say to her. She wondered if it would kill him to say something nice for a change.

"Are you tired? I can stay up and watch for you, if you want. That way, you can get some sleep," she said, twiddling her thumbs nervously.

"No. I'm not tired," he answered. The bags under his eyes said otherwise. "But you need to get some rest."

"I don't mind. I couldn't really sleep anyway," she said, moving to sit across from him on a tree stump. After taking another look at him, she added, "Besides, you look like you're the one who needs rest."

"Tch." He turned his gaze away from her, looking up at the stars.

A few minutes of awkward silence passed.

"Look, I know we kind of got off on the wrong foot today," she said in an attempt to break the uncomfortable silence.

Levi's head turned toward her once she spoke. She didn't back down after seeing the annoyed expression on his face, signaling to her that he wasn't in the mood for talking. Or at least, talking to her.

What else was new?

Truth be told, she didn't want to be friendly to him at all after how he acted towards her earlier. But if she and her brother were going to be travelling with him for who knew how long, she figured that she might as well at least try to make peace with him. At least it would make the journey a whole lot more enjoyable if they weren't at each other's throats 24/7.

"But I'm willing to put the past behind us," she added slowly. She knew what kind of reaction he would probably have, but she still continued on anyway.

 _Glare._

"That is if you're okay with it..." she said nervously.

He turned his head away again, looking off into the forest.

' _So he's going to be that way, huh?_ ' she thought to herself, feeling slightly annoyed.

Risa crossed her arms and glared back at him. "Why are you being so stubborn?"

"If all you're going to do is sit here and talk, then I'm going to try to sleep." He stood up abruptly without even giving an answer to her suggestion. "Wake us up at dawn."

"...Oh, okay. Good night," she said without getting a reply. She watched him walk away from her, disappearing into the night. When he was finally gone, she sighed and turned back to the fire.

All she could do was sit there, staring into the embers of the fire. An empty feeling began filling up inside of her, and she wasn't sure what it was from.

* * *

The next morning, Risa woke up on the ground. She groggily sat up, looking around her, feeling very confused at how she ended up in this position.

 _'Oh, I must have fallen asleep,'_ she thought to herself.

Once she realized that, her eyes immediately widened. How could she fall asleep while she was on watch? She gulped, knowing that Levi would not be happy about it.

Luckily for her, Levi was nowhere to be seen. That only meant that she would get reamed out by him later when he got back. At least she had time to prepare for that.

Then she looked up to see that Farlan was sitting on a tree stump near her, looking down at her in amusement.

"Morning," he greeted her, smirking. "Sleep well?"

She rubbed her eyes tiredly. "I can't believe I fell asleep while I was supposed to be on watch. I'm really sorry," she apologized as she stood up, mentally slapping herself.

Farlan chuckled. "You don't need to worry about it. I covered for you."

Risa sighed in relief. Maybe Levi would let her off easy if Farlan had her back. It was nice to know that she could at least rely on him.

"Oh, Risa, you're awake!" Isabel exclaimed, walking over to her. She was carrying two towels in her arms. "Wanna go take a bath with me?"

"What?" Risa choked.

Isabel giggled, grinning from ear to ear. "I'm going down to the pond to bathe. You should come with me!"

"Uh, okay. But where's Eren?" Risa asked, scanning the area. Her brother was nowhere to be seen. It made her feel rather uneasy that he left her alone without telling her.

"He's down there right now, but he should be done when we get there," Isabel said, taking Risa's hand. Risa reluctantly allowed Isabel to drag her down to the pond.

* * *

When the girls got to the pond, they found Eren standing near the edge of the water with his back facing them. He was running a towel through his hair and staring off into the distance, probably in deep thought about something. At least, that's what Risa guessed.

He turned his head around when Isabel cleared her throat. When he noticed the two of them, his face turned bright red and he quickly went to go fetch his shirt.

"How long were you guys standing there?" he asked nervously as he slipped on a t-shirt.

"We just got here," Risa answered, turning away from him to give him some privacy. "You didn't hear us coming?"

"I guess not. Well, I'm going to head back now. See you later." He waved goodbye to both of them before heading off to camp. Risa watched him trudge through the forest until he was out of sight. Somehow, he seemed lonely. She frowned, being able to feel how far away he seemed from her. But she decided to push those feelings to the side for now. She couldn't afford to let something like this bring her down in the world they lived in. Once she got a chance to later, she made sure that she would spend some time with him.

Risa turned her head to where Isabel was, freezing up when she saw the other girl throw her shirt to the side. With wide eyes, Risa turned away from her as she took off the rest of the clothes on her body.

Isabel looked over at Risa with a smile on her face. "What? There's no need to be embarrassed! We're both girls!"

"Right..." Risa muttered. But she barely knew Isabel and on top of that, she wasn't as open as Isabel was. She was never really comfortable around people she didn't know anything about.

After Isabel entered the water, Risa cautiously removed her clothing before jumping into the lake. Isabel swam around while Risa stayed where she was, still getting used to the water. She felt content in her own personal bubble.

"So, Isabel..." Risa said slowly after a few minutes had passed.

Isabel stopped splashing around and looked over at Risa. As usual, she had an enormous smile plastered on her face. "Yeah?"

"Is it okay if I ask you something?"

"Shoot!"

Honestly, Risa wasn't really sure where to begin. There were so many questions she wanted to ask, but she didn't know if it would be okay for her to ask.

"Is it about Levi?" Isabel asked, noticing her uneasiness.

Risa stared at her, feeling puzzled. "How did you know?"

"Just a hunch," Isabel replied with a sad smile. "So, what is it that you wanted to know?"

"I know we just met, but is there a reason why he hates me?"

Isabel let out a small laugh. "He doesn't hate you. He's just not very trusting..."

Obviously. Risa knew that much.

"He can be cold at first, but once you get to know him, he'll warm up to you. You just have to give him time," she said reassuringly. "Just hang in there, kay?"

Risa answered quietly with a nod although she wasn't sure how easy it would be to just "hang in there". She hadn't even known Levi for a day, and she was already starting to get frustrated with his aloof behavior. She began to question how much longer she could take it.

* * *

After drying off, Risa and Isabel headed back up to camp to find Eren and Farlan having a conversation with each other.

And Levi still wasn't back.

"What's going on?" Isabel asked, taking a seat next to Farlan and poking his arm.

"We were just talking about where we're heading next," Farlan informed her.

"Where exactly are we going?" Risa asked.

Farlan answered, "Well, right now we're on our way to Chicago."

Risa raised an eyebrow. "Chicago? Why are you going there?"

Right after the outbreak, Chicago was designated as a quarantine zone and had three walls built around it. Risa had heard that it was incredibly difficult to enter or leave due to the military stationed there. So it surprised her that they were headed there.

"It's just a stop on our way to our real destination," Isabel answered before Farlan could say anything.

"Then why not just go around it?" Eren asked. Apparently this was brand new information to him as well.

"Because we need to get supplies, idiot."

Risa turned around to the voice behind her. Of course, standing there was Levi, who had snuck in quietly, she didn't even notice him return. She quickly turned away from him.

He walked right past her, not even acknowledging her existence. She scoffed at his rude actions.

"Hello to you, too," she muttered under her breath.

"Look, we better get out of here soon. There's some Infected behind us," Levi reported as he pulled out a few cans of food from his bag. "We can eat on the way."

Levi distributed cans out to everyone. Well, everyone except for Risa. Not surprising, of course, but he was really pushing her buttons. And for no apparent reason at all.

"Hey, do I get any?" she asked him out of annoyance.

"I was getting to that, brat," he grumbled as he fished around in his bag. Finally, he pulled out a can of peaches and offered it to her.

She slowly reached her hand out to grasp the can. "Thank you," she said quietly, taking it from him.

Levi didn't respond and pulled the straps of his bag onto his shoulder. "Let's get going then," he commanded and took off.

Risa stayed behind after everyone started leaving. She tilted her head, noticing that Levi didn't have any food for himself.

"Levi, aren't you having anything to eat?" Isabel asked, opening up her can of potatoes.

"Those were all I could get," he replied simply. He looked back at Risa, but didn't stop walking. "Are you coming, or what?"

"Uh... Yeah, sorry."

Risa sprinted to catch up with the group and stopped once she got next to Eren. She couldn't help but feel bad that Levi wasn't eating anything just so she could have something. She felt like she was just getting in his way.

Eren looked at her when he noticed that she had put her food back into her bag. "Aren't you going to eat, Risa?"

She shook her head. "I'm not hungry."

* * *

A few hours later, the group stopped to rest down by a creek. Risa went away from everyone and sat on a rock close to the edge of the water. She took off her boots and dipped her sore feet into the cold water.

 _'That feels nice,_ ' she thought, leaning her head back and closing her eyes. She breathed in the warm air and immediately felt relaxed.

She sat there for a while, enjoying the peaceful weather before a voice interrupted her solitude.

"Am I interrupting anything?" Eren asked, standing a few feet away from her.

She opened her eyes and looked over at him. He had his arms crossed as he stood there, looking at her with a smile.

It had been so long since she saw that smile.

"Come sit by me." Risa scooted over on the rock, nodding her head toward the now empty space next to her.

Eren sat down next to her. Since the stone was not that big, both of them were hanging off the rock a bit and their sides were pressed against each other in order for both of them to fit. It wasn't uncomfortable to them at all. They enjoyed being together like this. After all, it seemed like forever since they had enjoyed time together with just the two of them.

"Remember when it was just me and you?" Risa asked softly, looking off into the distance. For a moment, she reminisced on their adventures together. Even though the world hadn't been too kind to them in the past, they still had memorable times together. "I remember it like it was yesterday."

Eren laughed. "That's because it was just yesterday."

Risa looked back at him, smiling. "I know."

Then, she removed her feet from the water so she could let them dry off.

"Do you think we'll be okay? You know, traveling with Levi and Isabel and Farlan?" she asked suddenly.

"Yeah, I do," Eren answered with a sigh. "I don't know why, but I feel like we can trust them."

"I hope so..."

Risa looked off to the side and noticed that Levi was sitting by himself not too far off. Then, she looked back at Eren and told him, "Hey, I'll be right back," as she put on her shoes.

Eren followed her gaze to see Levi, taking the hint that she wanted to go talk to him. He nodded his head. "Sure. I'll be here."

She smiled at him before hopping off of her seat and going over to Levi. When she got to him, Levi wasn't doing anything at all. He was just sitting there, staring at his hands in his lap.

"Levi?" Risa called.

He snapped his head up to look at her. "What do you want?"

She slid her bag off her shoulder and opened it up. Levi raised an eyebrow, wondering what she was looking for.

She held out the can of peaches he had given her earlier along with a spoon. "Here, I saved this for you."

He looked away from her, clicking his tongue. "I don't need them."

But Risa was not going to back down.

"I feel bad that you didn't get to eat anything," she said. "Just take them. Please."

"You don't need to worry about me," he said flatly. "Now get out of my sight."

"As you wish. But before I go, I just need to say something."

"No."

"It's a free country."

"Fine," he snapped. Clearly, he was annoyed. "What is it?"

"I know you don't like me, but I'm going to change that," Risa said confidently.

He snorted. "Yeah? How?"

She didn't answer. But he wasn't expecting her to in the first place.

"I'll just leave these here then." Risa smiled smugly as she set the can down next to him. "Enjoy."

Levi clicked his tongue once more as he watched her walk away from him to get back to Eren.

"Annoying."

* * *

 **A/N: One of these days Risa will get through to Levi. Today is not that day. It is only chapter 3, after all.**

 **Starting next chapter, things will be getting more exciting!**


	4. If Tomorrow Never Comes

**A/N: Hello! I'm back with chapter four! Just to clear something up, the zombies in this story will be referred to as the 'Infected'**

 **I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

" _ **If Tomorrow Never Comes"**_

* * *

Two weeks had passed since Risa and Eren joined Levi's group. Even though they had been with them for that long, neither of them still weren't sure where Levi's goal was to end up at. Of course, not that they had expected to find out anyway. Levi was still as icy as ever towards Risa, even though she thought she had made some sort of progress when she gave him her food that one day. Even so, something told her that that wasn't going to be enough to get Levi to open up to her. But what else could she do?

"Hey, are you just going to stand there all day, or what?" Risa heard a gruff voice next to her. The unexpected question caused her to immediately snap out of her thoughts, bringing her back to reality.

Risa turned her head to see Levi staring at her with an unpleasant expression. "Uh, no, sorry," she muttered nervously, smiling uneasily towards the ground.

He nodded his head curtly before walking off again, leaving her standing alone. Not even bothering to look behind towards her, he told her to hurry up. She willingly did so, not wanting to make him any more angry than he already was.

Each day Risa spent with them made her feel agitated. There was always that overwhelming feeling like she didn't belong, like she didn't deserve to be a part of their group. It was clear to Risa that he wanted nothing to do with her at all. To be honest, it was one of the most loneliest feelings in the world to her. Not that Levi was her favorite person in the entire world, but she hated feeling like a burden all the time. Levi never wanted her to join them in the first place, so why was he letting her stick around?

That was a question for another time, as Levi made it very clear that the group had to get on their way. Risa followed close behind him, watching his back very closely. When he looked back over his shoulder, she turned her head away quickly acting as if she was looking around and not checking out the way the muscles in his back shifted with each step he took...

Wait, what? What was she thinking? She couldn't stare at Levi like that, especially not when he would probably kill her if he caught her. Besides, Levi was the most undesirable person she had ever met. She had to snap out of it right away, so she shook her head to rid her thoughts of Levi.

Levi noticed that Risa had been staring at him. He kept glancing back at her, but she didn't even notice because her head was in the clouds. Honestly, Levi wasn't quite sure what was up with that girl. When she finally snapped out of it, he rolled his eyes and turned back around while she started making conversation with Isabel.

* * *

Hours later, everyone arrived at an abandoned grocery store in the middle of small town. After walking in the doors, the five of them split up after Levi commanded them to take whatever was necessary. Levi stalked off by himself while Isabel followed after Farlan, and Risa and Eren went off on their own. They decided to meet back up with each other after twenty minutes.

Risa went off in her own direction. She scanned the shelves, walking on the floor that was smeared with dried blood and sprinkled with shards of glass. Something must have happened here long ago, and she didn't particularly care to know what. The entire situation was beyond creepy to her, and the fact that she was alone didn't calm her nerves.

As she reached the end of the store, she crinkled her nose after coming across a foul stench. There was something on the ground, peaking out from behind one of the shelves. She squinted her eyes to examine it through the darkness of the store, the moonlight being the only source of light.

She crept up closer to the object then kneeled on the ground so she could get a closer look. She took out the flashlight from her bag and shined the light on the object in front of her.

"Oh…" she muttered.

It was a hand.

Risa sat back, feeling pale from discovering the severed hand. She wondered where the rest of the body was. But then again, maybe she would be fine with not knowing at all. But her curiosity got the best of her. She turned her head to the left, pointing the flashlight to reveal a body of a middle aged man. She got up and walked over to the corpse, noticing that the body was still in the process of decaying, which meant that whoever that person was had only been dead for a few days. She noticed a piece of paper lying next to the corpse and picked it up. She read the note out loud quietly to herself.

 _They're here. Whatever you do, don't open the door._

As if on cue, a loud banging come from a door that Risa presumed led to the back of the store. The door was only boarded up with a few planks of wood. If Risa had to guess, she'd think that the man had managed to fight off the Infected for only a little bit of time and managed to get bitten in the process. Maybe he had cut his hand off to stop the infection and ended up bleeding out. Now all that was left was a rotting corpse and a room full of Infected. How many were enclosed in that room was beyond Risa, but she didn't want to risk the chances of finding out.

Deciding that it would be best to find the others, she made her way back to the front of the store. However, the market was so big, she got lost trying to navigate her way through the aisles.

She stopped dead in her tracks once she heard groaning coming from the aisle she was in front of. She held her breath as she peered over into the aisle. There was an Infected walking in the direction she was facing, so it couldn't see her. She took a step backwards so she could leave without being detected, but she accidentally stepped on a piece of broken glass. Her eyes widened as the crunch of the glass breaking under her foot rang out through the area, bringing the Infected's attention to her.

Once it had noticed her, it broke off into a sprint towards her. Knowing that she had to be quick if she wanted to get away, she turned around sharply and ran off. As she passed one of the aisles, she felt a hand grab onto her arm, pulling her into the aisle. The next thing she knew, she was pressed up against someone's chest. This threw the Infected off, confusing it for a moment.

Turning her head, she saw that Levi was holding onto her with one arm. He raised his other arm, aiming his gun at the Infected's chest. Once it charged at them, Levi sent two bullets into it's heart. With a loud squeal, it went limp and fell to the ground.

Levi immediately let go of Risa. "What the hell were you doing?"

Risa looked at him in disbelief at his sudden outburst. "Shouldn't you ask if I'm okay? I could have died, you know."

"Yeah, because that was incredibly stupid of you," he snarled.

"Can't you say one nice thing for once?" She rolled her eyes.

"Can't you shut up for once?" he shot back.

Levi pushed her too far that time. She was angry at him for treating her like that. But at the same time, she couldn't blame him because she was a burden to him yet again. Thinking about how she couldn't protect herself and had to be rescued by him, she suddenly became depressed.

"You know, you didn't have to save me. You could have just let me die," she said, casting her eyes down. "Why didn't you? I'm sure everything would be better for you if I wasn't around, considering how much you hate me." She couldn't bear to look him in the eyes.

Levi didn't react to her self-deprecation. Instead, he just walked off. "We need to get back to everyone. Don't leave my sight," he ordered, not looking at her.

Sighing, she followed him back to the front of the store.

* * *

"Shit. That's a problem," Farlan muttered.

Once everyone met back up with each other, Eren discovered that there was a horde of the Infected stalking around outside. There were far too many for them to fight, let alone escape from. It was too dangerous to go outside.

"What are we gonna do?" Isabel asked, standing behind Farlan and peering over his shoulder to get a look outside.

Levi let out a frustrated sigh. His night was just getting better and better. "Let's just wait it out here for the night. See if they go away by morning."

"What if they come in here?" Risa worriedly asked.

Farlan came up with the plan to barricade the doors. Eren offered to help, so Risa decided to walk around the store for a little while longer with Isabel. It probably wasn't a good idea for her to be by herself, considering what just happened. After walking around, they stopped at an empty shelf to rest. Risa cleared some of the glass away with her foot before she sat down next to Isabel.

"Does Levi always have to be so rude?" Risa grumbled, crossing her arms. All he did was bark orders and yell at her. Quite frankly, it was starting to get on her last nerves. She was sick of it.

Isabel laughed and looked over at Risa. "Levi's not all bad." She looked down at her hands resting in her lap and continued on, "If it weren't for Levi, I wouldn't be here. He saved me, you know."

"Is that how you met?"

Isabel nodded in reply.

"Well, what happened?"

Isabel closed her eyes and hummed. "I'll tell you another day. I'm tired right now."

Risa gasped at her. She was really looking forward to hearing the story. "Come on, Isabel. You can't leave me hanging like that!"

"Shhh. Just rest."

Risa pouted for a moment but smiled to herself after she heard Isabel start to snore softly. Gazing at her sleeping figure, Risa thought there was no way something bad could happen to her. It was a shame that someone like her had to be wrapped up in all of this. She honestly wished for a better world for all of them.

"Rest well, Isabel," Risa said softly to her.

Risa sat next to her in silence for what seemed like hours as she looked out at the night sky, but it was only minutes until the boys joined her.

"Alright. We'll sleep in shifts just in case. I'll stay awake first," Levi said.

Everyone agreed with the plan and made themselves as comfortable as they could. Eren and Farlan both fell asleep quickly, but Risa could barely sleep a wink.

Since everyone else was asleep and Levi wasn't, it felt like they were alone together. It was a bit awkward, but since they weren't talking to each other, she was okay with it. Well, sort of.

She felt herself tense up when she noticed that Levi was staring at her.

When she caught his gaze, he didn't look away. "What?" she asked in annoyance, looking away.

He tilted his head slightly. "What? You're not mad at me, are you?"

"Why would I be mad at you?" Risa asked sarcastically. "Everything you have to say to me is so hateful, so no, there's nothing that I would be mad at you for."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings." He didn't sound sorry at all.

"You didn't hurt my feelings," she snapped.

"Would it make you happy if I told you that I don't hate you?" he asked her.

"Don't say things that you don't mean." Risa sighed as she turned away from him. "I'm going to sleep."

She shut her eyes as tightly as she could, trying to forget about everything that happened that night. Next time, she would show Levi that she was a capable companion and that she wouldn't need him to save her. Thinking about her redemption, she drifted off to sleep.

Eventually the sun came up. The Infected had migrated elsewhere and it was safe for them to journey out into the world again.

Well, it seemed that way for now.

* * *

 **A/N: This chapter is so...meh...to me. I spent a lot of time on this chapter rewrote a majority of it. To be honest, I'm still not completely happy with it, but it'll do.**

 **But look forward to the next chapter because something big is going to happen.**


	5. Left Behind

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who has followed/favorited so far! It really means a lot. I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

 _ **Chapter 5**_

" _ **Left Behind"**_

* * *

One morning, Risa awoke to quietness. All that could be heard were the birds singing their songs bright and early in the morning. Surprisingly, she was the first one awake. Eren, Isabel, and Farlan were still sleeping soundly by the time she got up. And even more surprising, it was the best sleep she had gotten in the past few weeks.

Four days had passed since they hid out in the grocery store, which meant that it had been four days since Levi and Risa got in their argument. Both of them behaved as if it never happened, but a part of Risa didn't want to let it go. At the same time, it was a relief that things weren't awkward between them. Anyway, they now found themselves taking shelter in an old apartment building. The rooms had been completely ransacked except for a few pieces of furniture that had been left behind. Lucky for them, they were able to make use of some of it.

Risa walked out into the main room to find Levi sitting on the kitchen table drinking a glass of bourbon. His head was turned, as he was gazing out the window. Risa couldn't help but notice the way his half unbuttoned shirt showed off the toned muscles in his abs. He was practically glowing from the morning sun beaming in through the window. After a moment of Risa staring at him, his gaze turned to her.

"Staring at something?"

His voice snapped her out of her thoughts. Looking over towards him, she saw that he was looking at her with an eyebrow raised. Embarrassed from being caught staring, Risa decided to ignore his question and tried to focus on something else instead. Her eyes darted over to the drink in his hand. "Isn't it a little too early for that?"

Levi shrugged and looked at the half empty glass he was holding. "Don't care," he said, taking another sip. "Want some?" He held the bottle out to her, gesturing her to drink some. She only shook her head. "It's all yours."

He downed the rest of his glass then slammed it down on the table, setting the bottle down next to it. Hopping down from where he sat, he buttoned the rest of his shirt as he walked over to his bag. He knelt down and unzipped it.

"So what's on today's agenda?" Risa asked, slowly walking over to him. She observed him as he rummaged around in his bag, looking for something.

"We're getting out of here so I'm going to go wake up the others," he answered, looking a few different cans of food that he was holding up. When he stood back up, he handed her a can of mixed fruit that he had chosen. "Eat up."

After the girl took it from him, he started to make his way into the other room, leaving Risa smiling to herself. She was probably overthinking it, but she couldn't help but feel grateful for Levi's random act of kindness. While she felt some kind of warmth from his actions, another part of her felt lonely. She found herself wanting another minute longer alone with him. It wasn't every day that she got a chance to be alone with him, so she wanted to use this chance to get to know him better. She had to do something quickly before he disappeared into the other room.

"Levi, wait," she called out to him in a hurry to get his attention. It was completely on a whim, but she didn't want to let that moment go to waste. He turned his head back and didn't say anything. "Maybe we should let them rest a little? You know, since it's going to be a busy day…" she suggested shyly. She hoped that she wasn't being too obvious in showing that she wanted to spend a little more time with him.

To her surprise, he didn't reject her offer. He also didn't question her, much to her relief. So the two of them sat down at the table across from each other to eat their breakfast. Risa observed Levi as he continued to look out the window. Her eyebrows furrowed when she noticed the dark circles under his eyes.

"Levi, how much sleep did you get last night?" she asked him, trying to sound casual about it.

"Hm." He finally looked back at her. "A few."

Risa raised an eyebrow. "Hours?"

"Minutes," he answered with that same deadpan expression he always had.

"Why?" Risa felt saddened by his answer.

He didn't answer her. Any time she spent trying to make a conversation with him was lost. Whenever it seemed like she was finally making progress, it eventually stopped going anywhere. It was like he refused to open up to her at all. Even though he was rude to her most of the time, she could tell that at least some small part of him was looking out for her. But she couldn't figure out why he refused to get close to she.

Risa watched in silence as he got up and went to the other room to wake everyone up.

* * *

By mid afternoon, the group had made their way to an old neighborhood just outside of a large city. The houses were rotted and plants grew out of the windows. As Risa took in their surroundings, she noticed that storm clouds were brewing up ahead. Since the houses weren't in the best condition, it was decided that they wouldn't be a great place for taking shelter.

Farlan discovered a sewer lid on the ground. He suggested going through the sewers and seeing where they would end up. That way the group would be sheltered from the rain. The mere thought of going through the sewers disgusted Risa, but she was in no position to protest. So she followed everyone.

Isabel walked beside Risa as everyone navigated through the tunnels. She aimlessly about the adventures she had been on with Levi and Farlan. The question of how she met them still lingered in Risa's mind, but she could never find the right moment to ask her. Surely, Isabel couldn't have forgotten that she promised to tell her, right? Isabel told Risa that she would tell her someday, so maybe all she had to do was wait. There would be plenty of time for her stories once they had escaped from this mess, so Risa continued to listen as Isabel went on with her tales.

"They all got angry with Levi, but they were no match for him," Isabel laughed as she finished telling a story about how Levi got on a gang's bad side once. Risa smiled, imagining the thought of Levi taking down a group of thugs. She thought about how amusing it would have been for her if she had been there.

"Isabel," Levi snapped, glancing back the two girls. "Enough."

Isabel rolled her eyes at him. "You're not being much fun," she huffed.

Levi turned around to say something to her, but was immediately interrupted by the faint sound of the Infected in the distance. It was silent between the group as they looked around at one another. No one dared to make a sound. No one dared to even breathe.

"We have to get out of here," Eren whispered to Risa, taking hold of her arm. She looked into his eyes for a brief moment, giving him a reassuring smile to let him know that everything would be okay.

Farlan's eyes darted to the way the moans of the Infected were coming from. Risa mentally told herself not to panic as they began to get closer. "Alright," Farlan finally said. "Let's go."

Levi led the way with Farlan in the back. Risa and Eren walked side by side as Isabel skipped along in front of them. Somehow, Isabel looked ecstatic to be in the situation that they were currently in. Risa never understood how danger thrilled her so much or how much fun she had in grave circumstances. Sure, danger was thriller, but not in a good way. Nothing about being in a situation where you might not make it out alive screamed 'fun' to Risa.

The five of them continued on through the everlasting tunnel, going even deeper into the darkness. Levi stopped dead in his tracks, causing the rest of his friends to bump into him.

"Hey! What was that for?" Isabel hissed.

Levi shushed her as he shone his flashlight over to the corner. Isabel gulped as the light revealed a group of the Infected walking aimlessly about. Isabel covered her mouth, realizing her mistake. But it was too late. The Infected turned to face everyone upon hearing Isabel's voice. As soon as they realized that they had been spotted, everyone immediately started to run. The group ran through the sewers with the Infected right on their tails. As much as they tried to outrun the creatures, their speed was gaining and eventually, more Infected had found their way to them.

"Where are they all coming from?" Eren asked with a panicked tone in his voice, looking back to see that the monsters were picking up speed.

"We're almost to the end," Levi informed everyone else, picking up his pace. He urged everyone to do the same. "Let's keep going." They all nodded, agreeing to follow his orders.

Risa felt a sense of relief wash over her when she spotted the end of the sewers. A ladder leading up to the exit was waiting for them. They were finally going to be free.

" _We just have to keep going,"_ Risa thought to herself as she started to run faster.

"Just don't look behind us," Farlan warned everyone, looking back at the mob of the undead.

Just a few more moments later, they were finally at the ladder. Levi helped Risa up and went after her. Then Eren started to climb and then Isabel followed. But Farlan never joined them. Farlan made sure that the four of them got up the ladder safely, but the Infected had reached him. He fought to reach the ladder, and eventually his hand grabbed onto one of the rungs. The Infected grabbed onto him, ripping him away from the ladder.

Isabel immediately stopped climbing once she noticed what happened. So did Levi after hearing her scream out, "Farlan, no!" as she was watched the Infected rip Farlan away from them. She stretched her hand out to try to help him, but she couldn't reach him.

Risa stopped climbing to watch Levi as he looked down at the sight before him. She watched in horror as Farlan was being devoured by the Infected right in front of their eyes.

"Isabel!" Farlan shouted out to her. He stretched his arm out, trying to reach her as he was pulled deeper in the crowd of the Infected. He could feel them starting to tear away his limbs and bite into his flesh. Isabel continued to reach her hand out to him as he cried out in agony. Farlan's screams eventually died out as the last of his life was taken away by the Infected. Eren grabbed Isabel's arm and pulled her up with him, forcing her to climb back up the ladder.

"Levi, we have to keep going," Risa told him quietly but firmly. She shut her eyes as she started her ascent up the ladder once again, trying to erase the image of the Infected feeding on one of her closest friends. She forced herself to keep going, trying to shut out Isabel's mournful cries.

* * *

Risa felt warm air hit her as she lifted the lid to the entrance of the sewers. Coming out of the underground, she was now finally standing outside in the middle of a run down city. No one said a word as Levi began walking off. She ran to catch up with him, wanting to keep him company. Although there was nothing that she could say to him, she still wanted to be by his side to support him. However, she walked behind him, feeling a deep sorrow in her heart. Not even the sun peeking out from the rain clouds could heal the pain that all of them were feeling.

The next day, the four of them were getting ready to leave the area they stopped to rest at. No one had spoken to each other at all and the silence was beginning to eat away at Risa.

"Alright, is everyone ready to go?" Levi asked. By looking at him, Risa could never tell that he was grieving the death of one of his best friend's. But she could hear the pain in his voice as he talked.

Risa nodded to him in response and started to follow him. Isabel stayed where she was.

"Levi," she mumbled, looking to the ground. "I'm not going."

"Why not?" he asked, turning around to face her. "You need to come with us." He walked over to her and grabbed her arm forcefully. She immediately pulled her arm away from him.

As Isabel slowly pulled up the sleeve to her jacket, she held back her tears. She never took her eyes off of him. "This is why I can't go with you." After telling him, she found that she couldn't look at him any longer.

The color drained from Risa's face as Isabel revealed the bite mark on her forearm. She looked towards Levi to see him staring at Isabel with wide eyes.

' _This can't be happening right now,'_ Levi thought. He had just lost Farlan, and now he was about to lose Isabel.

"Can't I at least say goodbye?" Isabel looked up with a smile on her face.

Levi nodded before turning away to give her and Risa some space. He needed a moment to himself to compose himself.

Tears started streaming down Risa's face as Isabel walked up to her. Risa found it extremely difficult to look her friend in the eye, but she knew that Isabel needed to see her face before they parted ways. Isabel always knew how to cheer her up, so she had to be brave for Isabel. She was so important to Risa, as she was her only friend who was a girl. Because even though their time together had been short, Risa still considered Isabel her best friend.

Isabel smiled from ear to ear at Risa, almost as if nothing was wrong. Her face softened as she peered into Risa's face. "It's okay, Risa. I'm really glad I met you. I had so much fun with you!" Risa noticed how she was trying to sound cheerful despite the situation. Then it hit Risa that she was being strong for her.

"Isabel…" Risa choked through her sobs. She couldn't find the right words to say to her. Of course, she didn't want to say goodbye to her. Goodbyes were the most difficult for Risa.

Isabel wrapped her arms around Risa, pulling her friend into a hug. "Can you do me a favor? I want you to stay with Brother and take care of him. He needs you right now," Isabel told Risa quietly.

"But…"

Isabel whispered to her, "He'll open up to you. Just give him time."

Risa's eyes widened at her statement. Then, Risa tried her very best to smile at her, not wanting to let Isabel down. "Okay, I will. I promise."

"Good! That would make me really happy."

There was still so much that Risa wanted to say to her, but all she could say was, "Goodbye, Isabel."

Isabel said her last goodbye to Risa then she went to say a few last words to Eren. He didn't take the goodbye any easier than Risa had.

The moment that Risa felt her heart break was when she watched Isabel walk up to Levi. Isabel placed a hand on his shoulder, giving him a soft smile. "Thank you so much for saving me that day."

"Isabel, don't." He looked away from her sternly, trying his best to hide the pain and sadness he was feeling. He was not ready for this at all.

Isabel looked up at the man that she had spent the last five years with. He wasn't just one of her best friends. He was her family. She admired him so much, and as she thought about how she had to leave him, she felt herself start to come undone. She began to fall apart in front of him.

"I don't want to turn into one of those things," she cried out, wiping the tears away from her face with the back of her hand. "Please, Brother. Don't let me turn into one." She clung onto his sleeve tightly.

Levi turned to face her. His eyes widened, knowing what she was requesting him to do. Then, he cast his eyes down toward the ground. "Why is this happening?" he mumbled under his breath, feeling himself start to panic. After taking a few deep breaths, he looked back at her. "Are you sure?" he asked as he looked right into her eyes.

"Yes. I'm ready now. Just make it quick, okay?" She continued to smile.

Levi nodded slowly, preparing himself for what he was about to do. When he pulled his gun out from his backpack, Risa turned her head away and shut her eyes tightly as Levi aimed the gun at Isabel. Eren walked over to his sister and immediately pulled her close to him. Risa leaned closely against his chest, hoping that she would be able to drown out everything that was about to happen. She didn't want to see or hear anything.

And then the sound of the gunshot rang out through the woods.

It was silent for a while after that.

Risa opened her eyes slowly before turning back towards Levi. He was kneeling down next to Isabel's body. He was holding Isabel's hand as he looked down at her face, taking his last moment with her in. He eventually stood back up after saying his final goodbye. When he turned around, he had that same blank expression on his face that he always did. Risa could see the coldness in his eyes.

Risa averted her eyes from him as he walked up to her and Eren.

"We have to go now," she heard him say.

So, Risa and Eren followed him, not knowing what the future would bring the three of them.

* * *

 **A/N: Ahhh, this chapter was so hard to write. :'( RIP Isabel and Farlan. I'm so sorry for killing off these precious characters, but the next chapter will be an extra special one in honor of them.**

 **Thank you for reading!**


	6. Isabel and Farlan

**A/N: Here's chapter 6! It's a longer one, so I hope you enjoy!**

 **Warnings for this chapter: Attempted rape, strong language, violence/blood.**

 **The descriptions aren't too explicit, but I wanted to add the warning in anyway just in case.**

* * *

 _ **Chapter 6**_

 _ **"Isabel and Farlan"**_

* * *

Risa wasn't sure how much time had passed since Isabel and Farlan died. It almost felt like an eternity, but it must have been more than two and a half weeks. Risa had a hard time keeping track of time since the days dragged on longer than they ever had. There was still a feeling of a void in her departed friend's place since the group was dealing with the grief that accompanied losing them. Of course, that was to be expected considering that they were their partners. They were their dear friends.

Levi took the loss the hardest. He was never one to show much emotion, and yet, he still didn't. He never talked about it or how he felt, and Risa didn't push him to do so. She figured that he would talk when he felt up to it. She decided that she would wait as long as it took after promising Isabel that she wouldn't give up on him. With that being said, Levi was a bit nicer to her now that Isabel and Farlan were gone, which made the grief much more bearable for Risa. That didn't mean that the distance between them was breaking. He still held her at an icy distance most of the time. Each day that passed, it felt like the distance between them was slowly getting closer and closer together. The only thing that kept her going was the promise she made to Isabel. Isabel _was_ right. Whether Levi wanted to admit it or not, he needed Risa. And eventually, she wanted him to understand that, no matter how long it took. She would wait for him.

Risa sighed for what felt like the millionth time as she stared at the cracked window she was sitting in front of. The trio was currently staying in a cabin on the outskirts of a small town. With her elbow propped up on the window sill and her hand resting against her cheek, she watched as the sun began to rise from its slumber, welcoming the dawn of a new day. There was something about the sunrise each morning that calmed her. Maybe it was the sign of hope for another day. As bad as things got, the sun always came up the next day. But then Risa would always think back to that tragic day that started it all where she lost both of her parents, or the day when she lost Isabel and Farlan. Thinking back on those days caused her hope to falter.

Coming out of her thoughts, Risa heard heavy footsteps against the creaky floorboards behind her. Then a voice followed. "You're up early."

"You're one to talk, Eren," she answered in a monotonous voice. This particular morning, she was feeling quite dreary. Despite her obvious mood, Eren still approached her.

Eren sat down next to his sister, smiling gently. "Yeah, but I'm not the one who stayed up the entire night."

She brushed off his comment. Then she looked over at him. Eren noticed an emptiness in her gaze as he looked into her turquoise eyes.

"How is he?"

Eren's face clouded over, looking down sadly. "He's the same as always. Nothing much has changed."

Risa was not surprised at all by Eren's answer. She wasn't sure why she asked him in the first place. "I just wish there was a way to get him to talk to us," she said sorrowfully.

"Hey."

The siblings turned around to see Levi standing behind them. He was glaring down at them, giving them a sign that he had been standing there for a while. Which meant that he overheard their conversation about him.

"I don't need you two worrying about me. I'm fine," he hissed. Risa wasn't sure why exactly he was that angry over it. He obviously wasn't okay. If he would just admit it, everything would be easier for all of them. "If you two have time to sit around talking, then you have time to get up and get your asses out the door. We need to get to Chicago, but right now you're wasting time."

Risa bit her lip, thinking about how much more strict he had become. It seemed as though he was always finding something to yell at them for. And as much as she wanted to talk back to him, she couldn't. He was grieving in his own way, and apparently finding things to be angry about and taking it out on others was it.

"Yes, sir," Eren grumbled under his breath as he stood up. He gave Risa his hand and helped her stand up.

So, the three of them stepped back into the cruel and unforgiving world once again. It bothered Risa that Levi still hadn't bothered to tell her and Eren where it was that they were going. All she knew was that they had to stop in Chicago along the way for supplies.

It made her nervous thinking about going to Chicago. Chicago was an enormous city enclosed with three walls built around it. It was the largest quarantine zone in the country and it was extremely hard to enter. Risa had heard many stories during her travels of the tests and security one had to go through to be able to get in.

The military was especially tight in the city. There were three branches of military within each city; The Survey Corps, Military Police, and Garrison. The Garrison was in charge of guarding the city and making sure that the Infected stayed out. Anyone infected trying to get in was immediately killed on sight. The Military Police was in charge of punishing all crime in the city, including breaking curfew, entering the city illegally, smuggling goods in and out of the city, and so on. The Survey Corps was the most dangerous military branch to be in. They were the ones who were brave enough to go outside the walls and fight the Infected. Their ultimate goal was to eradicate all Infected in the country while scientists worked to find a vaccine. However, the latest that Risa heard, no progress had been made in the past five years. They claimed that they would eventually reach a breakthrough, but she didn't buy any of it. Still, everyone hoped that one day the world would return to the way it was five years ago, before the outbreak happened. As long as there was still a tiny sliver of hope, a majority of the world refused to give up.

But there were still people out there fighting for another day of life, including her, Eren, and Levi. It all started to seem so pointless to her. She and her brother didn't have anyone left to come back to when everything would become normal again. Now that Isabel and Farlan were gone, she didn't have any friends. All they had was each other, but sometimes it still didn't seem like it was enough. And Risa didn't know what motivated Levi to keep going. What was his end goal, she wondered? Every day that passed by without knowing that answer, she grew more angrier with him.

She recalled a day years ago when it was just her and Eren, wandering around the ends of the earth. It was a rather peaceful summer day for them. They were lying side by side out on the porch of a run down house.

* * *

" _[Name], why do we keep fighting?" Eren asked her. He looked as though he was in deep thought with his eyes closed. There was a content look on his face._

 _Risa looked over at him quizzically, unsure of why he asked that kind of question so suddenly. "What do you mean?"_

 _He propped himself up on his elbow, looking over at her. "What are we doing out here? We live in a dangerous world, yet we still fight to make sure we live to see another day." His head turned away from her. He gazed out over the horizon, watching the sun slowly start to set. "I have my reasons. I just want to hear yours."_

 _Risa hummed quietly, carefully thinking his question over. "Maybe I'd still like to believe that one day, everything will go back to normal." Eren listened quietly as she spoke. "It's just hard to think that way sometimes. Every once in awhile, I start to wonder if I'm being too naive to think like that…" Then, she sat up. "What's your reason for fighting?"_

 _A smile grew on his face and he reached out to take her hand. "I just want to see you smile again. You know, the way that you used to."_

* * *

And that's what brought Risa back.

. . .

 _I just want to see you smile again._

. . .

Those words replayed in her mind over and over again, reminding her of why she she had never given up in the first place. Eren still had hope, so what right did she have be so negative? Her brother was fighting for her, so she felt as though she had to do the same for him. It was the least she could do.

Why had she decided to give up so easily? She hated herself for it, but she couldn't afford to waste time thinking like that. In order to become stronger, she had to let go of all of those negative feelings.

"Risa." She heard her name being called repeatedly. "Risa? Hello? Are you in there?" She looked over to see that Eren was peering into her face. It caught her off guard.

Jumping from being startled, she pulled away from him and shoved him away from her. "What is it?"

"Were you thinking about something?" Eren questioned. "You looked pretty deep in thought." He pressed his lips together and looked at her thoughtfully. It seemed like she had a habit of spacing out like that.

"No, it was nothing," she replied simply, not missing a beat. Clearing her throat, she turned away from him. "Sorry for spacing out."

"Come on," Levi complained, interrupting their conversation. "You're holding us up."

"Sorry," she apologized, feeling a sense of determination bubble up inside of her. A smile crept onto her face as she followed Levi, adding a small spring in her step. For the first time in awhile, she truly felt hope again. This time, she was determined to let nothing break it down. No matter what happened, she would always hang on to that hope like her life depended on it. In all honesty, her life really did depend on it. It was one of the only things she had left in this world. God forbid she ever lose sight of it again.

* * *

Then another week had passed. At that point in their journey, they were only a few days away from Chicago according to Levi.

One night, they stopped in yet another abandoned neighborhood to rest for the night. Once they settled in, Risa sat down at the table with Eren and Levi to eat dinner. They were starting to run out food, so no one knew for sure if they would make it last until they arrived in Chicago. Food had been scarce those days, so their best bet was to ration it as much as they could and wait until they could restock in Chicago.

After a silent dinner, Levi got up from the table. He went outside to the backyard, taking a bottle of whiskey with him. He had been especially quiet that day, and Risa wasn't really sure why.

Risa and Eren spent the rest of the evening together. For a little while, it felt like old times with just the two of them. She didn't want that moment to end because every moment she got with Eren, whether it was one minute or an hour, it was so precious to her.

He eventually said goodnight to her a few hours later and went upstairs to sleep. By that time, Levi still hadn't come inside, so Risa went out to check on him.

When she walked out the back door, she saw that Levi was sitting on the grass, looking up at the stars sprinkled all over the night sky. Next to him, he had half a bottle of whiskey left and an empty glass next to it.

Risa walked up behind him. "Is this spot taken?" she asked him gently.

He looked up at her and nodded. There was a hint of sadness in his face and Risa knew that this was because he was in pain. She didn't say anything as she sat down next to him.

For a while, it was silent between them. Neither of them said anything to each other. All they did was gaze up at the stars shining brightly in the sky. At that moment, it was like they were alone with their thoughts. For once, the silence didn't bother Risa.

After quite some time, Levi broke the silence between them. He talked in a slow and quiet voice.

"Nights like these remind me of them."

Risa's attention turned to him and her eyes immediately widened at the thought that he was finally opening up to her. She silently urged him to go on.

"We used to sit outside together and look up at the stars," he told her, still looking up towards the sky. "For once, it felt like everything was alright, like there was peace in the world."

His gaze faltered. Now he was looking straight ahead. Risa thought quietly about his words. She knew that feeling just as well as he did.

"But now they're not here anymore." He said it so quietly that it was barely audible. But Risa listened so intently to him that she heard it.

"They still are," she whispered. "They're with us in spirit."

Levi finally turned to look at her. "Is that what you really believe?"

She stared at him for a moment before nodding her head. "Yes, I do. It's the only thing that keeps me going," she said, looking him straight in the eye. "I know how easy it is to give up hope after something like this happens, but I realized that I have to keep going. And so do you, Levi. It's what they would have wanted for you."

Levi sat there quietly as he thought about what she said. Her words resonated deep within him. Those were the words that he needed to hear all along.

"Can I ask you something?" Risa asked.

"It's a free country."

Risa smiled at his answer. Usually, he sounded annoyed with her whenever she tried talking to him. This time, he sounded like he actually wanted to listen to her. That was enough to make her feel content.

She braced herself and mustered up her courage to ask him about the one thing that had been on her mind. "Could you tell me about you met them? Isabel told me once that you saved her, but she never got the chance to tell me how. So, I was wondering if you would tell me?"

He sat still for a moment, taking her question in. She started to begin to think that he wouldn't tell her. "It's okay if you don't want to talk about it," she said after a while.

"It's okay. I'll tell you."

* * *

 **5 Years Ago; The Day of the Outbreak**

 _After a long day of studying, Levi decided that it was time for him to take a break. He slammed his history textbook shut before standing up from his desk chair. He put one earbud in his ear and turned on his iPod. Then he plopped down on his bed. While he waited for his roommate Farlan to get back from class, he stared up at the ceiling, thinking about the party he was going to later that night. Apparently Farlan wanted to introduce him to some girl. The thought of Farlan setting him up with a random girl made him feel exhausted._

 _After about twenty minutes had passed, the intercom for the dorms came on. A loud voice blasted through the speakers shouting, "Attention all students! This is an emergency! Please remain in your dorms with the door and windows locked until further notice. I repeat: remain in your dorms until—"_

 _Levi gazed at the speakers in confusion as the sound started to crack. Then it went dead._

 _He sat up in bed and removed the earbud, wondering what was happening. He jumped down, and walked over to the window, opening up the curtain. There were students running around campus like madmen._

 _The door swung open when Farlan bursted in. He looked distressed as he desperately tried to catch his breath. "Levi, why haven't you been answering my calls?" he screamed in a panic._

" _Sorry, I didn't notice you called me," Levi said, looking at his phone. But it was dead. "What the hell is going on?"_

" _I'll explain later, but right now we have to get out of here!"_

 _Farlan grabbed both of their backpacks, then joined Levi over at the window and opened it up. "We have to jump out," he stated firmly._

 _Levi exclaimed, "What? Are you fucking crazy? We're on the second floor!"_

" _It's okay," Farlan told him. "There are bushes down there. We'll be fine."_

 _He grabbed Levi's arm as Levi continuously protested. Together, they jumped out their dorm window and landed in the prickly bushes beneath them. Despite how much pain they were in, Farlan dragged Levi away. They ran from the campus, avoiding all students. Once they were outside of the university's gates, they headed for the city._

" _Care to tell me what the hell is going on?" Levi asked angrily once they reached a stopping point in an alley._

 _Farlan looked around them, panting heavily. "We won't be safe here for long, so we have to get going soon. But basically, there's some sort of virus going around. Whatever it is, it's dangerous. It's turning people into monsters."_

 _Monsters? Levi stared at him, wanting to think that Farlan was making up some ridiculous story. There was no way in his right mind that he would say something that crazy. But with the circumstances, he had to believe what Farlan was saying._

" _Where exactly are we going though?" Levi asked._

 _Farlan shrugged. "I don't know, but we're getting as far away from here as we can."_

 _So they ran down the alleys to escape. Most of the time, they were less crowded than the streets, which made them safer to travel through._

 _They had reached an old part of the city that was known for the crime that took place there. It was risky to go through there, but most people avoided it, so there was a better chance of them making it out from the city._

 _They crept through the quiet streets with no weapons to protect themselves. They had to be ready for anything._

 _As they went farther down the streets, they heard a girl screaming in one of the alleys._

" _No! Let go of me!" she cried. From how loud it was, they could tell she wasn't far away._

 _Farlan and Levi looked at each other. They could hear the sound of a group of men snickering and talking to each other. The two boys made their way to where the voices were coming from. When they reached the alley, they saw a girl surrounded by a group of three men. They had her pushed up against the wall. She was struggling to break out of their grasp as they tried to rip the clothes from her body._

" _This will go a lot faster if you just cooperate," one of them said into her ear. The girl continued to kick at them as they continued to undress her._

" _No! Don't touch me!"_

 _Farlan couldn't just stand there and watch, so he ran up to the gang and pulled one of the guys away from her. He turned around to face Farlan. "Who the hell are you?" he screamed, punching Farlan in the jaw. The two other guys stopped to watch the scene, allowing the girl to escape from their grasps._

" _Hey! The little bitch is getting away!"_

 _The other two men chased after her. Noticing that they were getting away, Levi took off into a sprint to chase them down. Meanwhile, Farlan stood back up and fought his attacker back. He landed a few good punches and dodged his attacks. He lifted his right leg, landing a kick to the guy's gut. While he leaned over, clutching his stomach, Farlan delivered one final blow to his shin, knocking the man to the ground._

 _Farlan walked up to him and peered down at him, looking him in the face. His eyes clouded over with a deadly glare. He kicked the thug straight in the face. It was enough to knock him out for now. Blood splattered across the brick walls of the alley. Farlan didn't take another look at him as he went to help Levi._

 _Levi managed to tackle one of the other guys to the ground. He struggled as the man flipped Levi over onto his back. Pinning him down, the man gripped Levi's throat with one hand and pulled out a knife with the other. As the man lowered the knife toward Levi, Levi quickly grabbed his arm, trying to stop the knife from reaching his face. But this man was a lot stronger than Levi was, and he was starting to struggle for air. Levi's grip weakened and he felt himself about to lose consciousness. He shut his eyes tightly once he saw that the knife was an inch away from his face._

' _This is the end,' he thought to himself, gasping for air._

 _This is how he was going to die._

 _As he started to lose his will to fight, he felt himself slip away from consciousness._

 _. . ._

 _. . ._

 _. . ._

 _ **WHAM!**_

 _For a moment, Levi wasn't quite sure what had happened. The weight of the other man had suddenly been lifted. Gasping for air, Levi looked up to find that Farlan had come up and kicked the man off of him. Levi watched as the knife went flying out of the man's hands. The man struggled to get it back as Farlan had gotten on top of him, pinning him to the ground._

" _Levi, get the knife!" Farlan demanded._

 _Levi knew that he had no time to sit around to catch his breath when there was a girl in danger. He crawled over to the knife as fast as he could to acquire it, fighting through the immense pain that he was feeling. Once he had reached it, he stood back up. His adrenaline allowed him to run off to find the girl and the other criminal while Farlan stayed behind to take care of the second guy._

 _Levi was now wandering the streets of the city. Night had fallen, but the electricity was out, leaving him with no light to guide his way. He gripped the knife tightly with his right hand as he looked all around him. The city was eerily quiet._

 _So he didn't see it coming when he felt a force turn him around and slam him into the wall of a brick building. His body felt weak as he found himself in another position where he was being strangled by a man much stronger than he was._

" _You and your friend ruined my plans tonight," he seethed into Levi's face, with his grip tightening on his throat. "That bitch deserved it. She was being a tease all night, so we had to punish her."_

 _Levi glared at the man. 'What is this guy's fucking problem?' he thought to himself._

" _But she got away thanks to you," he spat. "I can't even find her, but when I do, I'll have you watch as I have my way with her. And then I'll kill the both of you."_

" _You're not going to lay a finger on her." Levi struggled to get his words out as his air supply was quickly being taken. But he was determined to beat him._

 _The man laughed sadistically, almost maniacally, at Levi. "Oh? And why is that? You know, you're not going to stop me again. You can't." The man stopped talking to think for a moment. "Maybe I should just kill you right—"_

 _He didn't have a chance to finish his sentence as Levi quickly inserted the pocket knife into the man's abdomen. The man looked at Levi with wide eyes, almost as if he was a deer in headlights, as Levi twisted the knife around. When he pulled out the knife, he felt warm blood spray onto him, soaking his clothes._

" _I won't let you lay a finger on her," Levi spat furiously at the man. He threw his lifeless body onto the ground, not feeling any remorse for him at all. Maybe he would feel bad once he realized that he had just committed murder, but he didn't feel anything for the man at all. After all, he was a sick bastard with nothing better to do than harm an innocent girl._

 _He breathed heavily as he stared at the man's corpse. Then, he turned his head slowly to find Farlan standing a few feet away from him. His friend looked at him with worry and fear._

" _I did what I had to do," was all that Levi said._

" _We should go and find that girl," Farlan said after a while. "She might still be here or she might have left."_

 _They searched the rest of the city for her. For awhile, they couldn't find her. But she finally popped her head out from an alley. "Is it safe to come out now?" she asked, her voice quivering._

" _We took care of them," Farlan told her. "But we need to leave before they wake up."_

 _So, they left the city and never looked back._

 _The next day, it rained. They found shelter under a bridge and sat there quietly, waiting for the rain to pass._

 _Neither of them spoke a word to each other until the girl broke the silence. "Um, thank you for saving me." She talked with a quiet whisper. "And thank you for letting me come with you."_

" _It's no problem," Farlan said with a smile. "I'm Farlan, and this is Levi. Sorry we never introduced ourselves earlier."_

 _She smiled softly at them. "I'm Isabel."_

 _Levi didn't look her way at all. He spaced out for most of the day, thinking about the events that happened the previous day. He felt like a monster for what he had done._

" _So, where are we going?" Isabel asked._

 _Farlan answered her question. "Levi and I decided to go to L.A. to find his sister."_

 _Isabel gasped. "But L.A. is all the way across the country!"_

" _We'll make it there," Farlan said._

 _Farlan didn't realize that in five year's time, he wouldn't even have a future. As he stared into Isabel's shining eyes, he didn't even think about the possibility that they would be taken from this world._

* * *

 **End of Flashback; Present Day**

As Levi finished telling Risa his story, he began to slowly cry. He did his best to stop himself. Risa had no idea that it would have been that dark. But she also had no right to judge him for his past actions. Every one had to do what they could to survive. People either died keeping their morals, or they let them go so they could survive.

"I did everything that I could to keep them safe," whispered Levi through his tears. He brought a hand up to his face to hide his tears from Risa. "And yet, I couldn't save them in the end."

As she watched him, Risa felt her eyes fill with tears. She placed her hand on top of his that was resting on the ground next to her. "Their deaths weren't your fault," she told him, trying to soothe his pain. She didn't know what else she could say to him, so she just said the first thing that came to her mind. "They knew that you loved and cared for them so much. And they loved you too."

After hearing her say that, Levi allowed himself to let out his tears, letting himself break down right in front of her. This was a sight that Risa thought that she would never see. But she was thankful that he finally broke down the wall between them and opened up to her. It felt like their relationship was starting to make progress.

After he was done crying, Levi composed himself quickly. "I'm sorry that you had to listen to me ramble.

"No. I'm glad you told me," Risa smiled. "Levi, hand me that bottle of whiskey, would you?"

He did as she told him to. Then she told him to lift his glass up so she could pour whiskey into his cup. "I think we need to be happy now. Instead of mourning their deaths, I think that we should celebrate their life. So, let's make a toast to our dear friends Isabel and Farlan."

The two of them clinked their glasses together. "To Isabel and Farlan," they cheered in unison. Then, they each took a sip from their glasses.

They had sat there for another half an hour, just drinking and talking to each other. For the first time, Risa had a real conversation with him. And she had finally learned that Levi was going to find his sister. She didn't ask about her, figuring that there would be another time to do that.

Risa knew that this night was for Isabel and Farlan, and for them only. Yes, it pained her that they were both killed and she wished that it never happened. But they did not die without meaning. They were what kept her and Levi going.

Risa had spent a majority of her time searching for something to fight for.

She smiled, knowing that she finally find it.

* * *

 **A/N: I'm sorry for taking so long to update. I've been really busy with school and work that I haven't had much free time lately. I wanted to get this chapter out today in honor of season two of Attack on Titan coming out yesterday.**

 **Anyway, I'm really happy with how this chapter turned out. I hope you loved reading it as much as I loved writing it. See you in the next chapter!**


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